Month: August 2012

They said to him, “Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you.”

He said to them, “You read the face of the sky and of the earth, but you have not recognised the one who is before you, and you do not know how to read this moment. Neither do you understand reason, as you seek only to believe.”

“And this is the sign that a man follows the right path: Uprightness is his delight, and he sees danger in the least of those things which he should avoid. He trains himself in the commands of morality, he encompasses himself with forthrightness in word and deed; he sustains his life by means that are quite pure; good is his conduct; guarded is the door of his senses; mindful and self-possessed, he is altogether happy.”

“He who does not rouse himself when it is time to rise, who, though young and strong is full of sloth, whose will and thoughts are weak, that lazy and idle man will never find the way to enlightenment.”

“Creatures even such a mankind, from mind their character derive; mind-marshalled are they, mind made. Mind is the source either of bliss or of corruption. By oneself evil is done, by oneself one suffers; by oneself evil is left undone, by oneself one is purified. Purity and impurity belong to oneself, no one can purify another.”

Well-makers lead the water wherever they like; fetchers bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; wise people fashion themselves; wise people falter not amidst blame and praise. Having listened to The Law, they become serene, like a deep, smooth and still, lake.

And the master said, “Beware you of low cunning, as it is often found in the highest places, and practiced by those of devious intent, who mistakenly believe that it is wisdom, and don't know, or even realise that there is a difference.

Jesus* said, “The images of idolatry are manifest to man, but the light that shines from the candles about them remains concealed in the image of the light of stupidity. He who shall come after me in the light of The Way will become manifest without candles, but his image will remain concealed by his light; and his light shall also be concealed by the perception of men who see little.”

A group of the Hallowed Brethren came before the Buddha. And the Blessed One thus addressed them, “Those who only believe, call me Gotama, but you call me the Buddha, the Blessed One, the Teacher. And this is right, for I have in this life entered nirvana, while the life of Gotama has been extinguished.

“Self has disappeared and the truth has taken its abode in me. This body of mine is Gotama's body and it will be dissolved in due time, and after its dissolution no one will see Gotama again. But the truth remains. The Buddha will not die; the Buddha will continue to live in the hallowed body of the laws of The Way and in its hallowed Brotherhood. It shall live until the coming of the Seventh; and his number shall be ten. Perchance it will live beyond that time should he be successful. Should he fail, then truth shall turn from mankind, and all shall stand lost.

“The extinction of the Blessed One will be by that passing away in which nothing remains that could tend to the formation of another self. Nor will it be possible to point out the Blessed One as being here or there. But it will be like a flame in a great body of blazing fire. That flame has ceased; it has vanished, and it cannot be said that it is here or there. In the body of The Way, the continuance of the Brotherhood of Nazarenes, and the grace of those two who are yet to come after me, I shall be known; the Blessed One can be pointed out, for the Dharma has been preached to me and by me.

“Ye are my children, I am your father; through me have ye been released from your spiritual sufferings. I myself, having reached the other shore, help others to cross the stream; I myself having attained the knowledge that shall lead mankind to his salvation.

“I am a saviour of others; being comforted, I comfort others and show them The Way, and that Way will lead them to the places of final refuge. I shall fill with joy all the beings whose limbs languish; I shall give happiness to those who are dying from distress; I shall extend to them succour and deliverance.

“I, like them and those gone before in this great purpose, was born into the world as the King of Truth, for the salvation of the world. The subject on which I meditate is truth; the practice to which I devote myself is truth; the topic of my conversation is truth; my thoughts are always in the truth,”for lo! my self has become like truth.”

(Chapter: To the Places of Final Refuge)

Jesus said, “I took my place in the midst of the world, and I appeared to them in flesh. I found all of them intoxicated and foolish. I found none of them thirsty for the drink that I offered onto them. And my spirit became afflicted for the sons of men, because they are blind in their hearts and do not have sight; for empty they came into the world and empty, too, they seek to leave the world. But for the moment they are intoxicated. When they shake off their wine, then they will repent. But alas it shall be too late for them.”